2-Deep roster for Minot State                2-Deep roster for Wayne State

WATCH THE GAME

MINOT, N.D. – Another weekend of action on the gridiron brings new opportunities for the Minot State football team which put plenty of positives together in their home opener last Saturday.

While the win eluded head coach Mike Aldrich and his squad, the team found itself building a rhythm that the Beavers (0-2 overall) hope to continue to build upon this weekend as they travel to Nebraska to take on Wayne State College on Saturday night at 6 p.m.

"We keep progressing to try to get offense and defense working together where we can build two good drives back-to-back and put positive things together," Coach Aldrich said.

Minot State looks to do that against a Wildcats (1-1) team that opened its season with a 34-27 win over North Dakota's other NSIC team, the University of Mary, before falling 38-28 to Bemidji State last weekend.

Here is a quick look at this weekend's matchup:

LAST TIME OUT (WSC): After scoring a 34-27 win in week one over the University of Mary, the Wildcats found themselves in a close game at Bemidji State last weekend until the Beavers came charging out of the locker room at halftime with two touchdowns in the first 5 minutes of the second half to break the contest open. A pair of fumbles sparked by Bemidji State's scoring drives in the third quarter. Wayne State quarterback Tavian Willis tried to rally his team, throwing a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes to get the Wildcats close, but they couldn't complete the comeback, falling 38-28.

LAST TIME OUT (MSU): Making their home debut, the Beavers gave their fans plenty to cheer about early on as 2019 NSIC Freshman of the Year Ali Mohamed took a screen pass on the third play from scrimmage 69 yards for a touchdown and Minot State's first points of the season.

"By the end of the day Ali finished just under 150 all-purpose yards," Minot State's coach said. "We're going to go as he goes so we need to be able to stay committed to him and being able to get him the lion's share of the reps; whether it be through the air or on the ground, as long as he touches the ball because he can do great things, which he did show on Saturday.

"I think the biggest thing we saw Saturday is offensively we took another step forward," Aldrich added. "We didn't have a ton of success in game one, especially running the ball, but we were able to really stick with it and get to the point where we were really having good gains, not gamebreakers, but three, four yards per run."

Redshirt freshman kicker Dillon Fedor booted his first collegiate field goal in the second quarter, keeping Minot State as close as 21-10 down, but Sioux Falls pulled away from there with a touchdown in the final minute of the first half, and 3 more in the second half for the 49-10 victory. USF finished with 224 rushing yards in the win, a key factor in the outcome.

"Defensively we struggled at times," Aldrich said. "Specifically, some big plays they hit on us that kind of took advantage of us and our pressure situations. … The tough thing is when the run is having success, whether it's the big run or it's the methodical pounding, it's a demoralizing feeling to the defense, so when that happens then things go backwards with everything, not just on run defense. We're got to be able to step up there and get better because that's only going to build our confidence and make our defense as a whole better."

FACING THE WILDCATS: The Wildcats hold a 4-1 edge in the all-time series which dates back to the Beavers' NAIA days when Minot State fell 20-14 in the two teams' first meeting in 1989. After more than a 20-year hiatus, the head-to-head series resumed in 2012 with Wayne State picking up a 20-6 win. The Teams played in 2014, 2016, and 2018, with the Beavers lone win a 20-14 victory at Wayne State in 2016. The last meeting saw the Wildcats grab a 34-0 road victory back on Oct. 20, 2018.

SCOUTING WAYNE STATE: Six-foot sophomore quarterback Tavian Willis has done it all for the Wildcats on offense as he leads the team in rushing with 109 yards on 22 carries, while also completing 32-of-57 passes for 471 yards and six touchdowns, without an interception. While he leads the way, he has been helped by 5-10 freshman running back Jacob Keiser, and 5-10 senior running back Anthony Watkins, who each have rushed for 108 yards this season and a touchdown on 24 carries, and 15 carries, respectively. Balancing out the running game, Willis' favorite passing target has been 5-10 senior wide receiver Trystn Ducker who has caught 10 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns.

"The thing they do really well is they give you a lot of smoke and mirrors and show you a lot of different formations and they have a lot of different people moving around," Coach Aldrich said. "And they're effective when they get the ball out to the edge because they have some good speed on their team. So we've got to make sure the interior runs don't hurt us and we've got to be very sound on the perimeter to make sure those edge runs stay to the edge and aren't able to get vertical on us."

While balance and depth are key on offense, defensively the linebacking core has been vital for the Wildcats with 6-1 junior linebacker Nicholas Joynt and 5-11 freshman linebacker Alex Kowalczyk leading the way with 19 and 17 tackles, respectively. Six-2 junior linebacker Jaylan Scott also has 10 tackles and an interception for Wayne State, the defense's lone turnover this season, and 5-11 senior defensive lineman Josh Taylor recorded a pair of sacks in the win over Mary and has nine tackles this season for the Wildcats.

COACH ALDRICH'S KEYS TO THE GAME: "(Defensively) they do enough to where they really try to confuse the eyes of the defense, a lot of misdirection stuff, a lot of quarterback carry stuff and reads, and those type of things. So ultimately what it comes down to is defensively we just have to play disciplined and not get caught up into what we're seeing and just be able to play with good reactions and be able to react fast.

"I think the big thing for us (offensively) is we want to jump on the back of Ali and go as he goes. We've got to be committed to what Ali can do for us, but also just the run game in general. … If you can start getting success on the run game that can be demoralizing for the other team's defense, but then also forces them to do other things where they have to overcommit to stop that run, which then creates under-commitments elsewhere on the field, so we've really got to be able to piece that stuff together."

LOOKING AHEAD: Minot State returns home on Saturday, Sept. 25, to host No. 19-ranked Minnesota State, Mankato, at 6 p.m. at Herb Parker Stadium. The game against the Mavericks will be YMCA Youth Football Night and tickets are available by clicking HERE.